Gandhi Mate, Gandhi

Now that we're halfway through the year, make a case for superstar of the year.

When I first saw that I was debating on this topic I didn’t really have to think long about who I was going to make my case for. I am writing this first paragraph whilst at work, feeling really tired and just wanting to look like I am doing some work. Why am I feeling really tired? It’s because I stayed up until 4am last night to watch ‘The Bash’.

A funny thing happened at ‘The Bash’. Despite not even being advertised for the PPV itself, and therefore had no direct impact on its buy rate figure, the big wigs at WWE just couldn’t bring themselves to keep my Superstar of the year off the card. You may have guessed by now but I’ll tell you in big underlined, bold writing anyway.

EDGE ​

Oh yes, despite various pleas for him to turn face because of his ‘staleness’ by members of this very forum, I’m choosing Edge.

I stopped watching wrestling between 2005 and 2007 because I fell out of love with it. You can only imagine how weird it felt to start watching again in December 2007 and see Edge as the champion. He needed to do a lot to make this believable to me. I couldn’t believe my eyes. 3 months later he had had two great titles match with Rey Mysterio and was the leading heel on the Road to Wrestlemania. I was convinced and I’ve loved him being in the main event ever since.

For starters, I could drone on about how he’s won 29 titles in 11 years with the biggest wrestling company in the world but it wouldn’t really be relevant to why he is the superstar of 2009. Sure, it has an indirect impact because he wouldn’t be the superstar he is today unless he had been given the chance to be a multi-time Tag Team, Intercontinental and World Champion.

Edge started off 2009 chasing Jeff Hardy for the WWE Championship. Speculation began to circulate about when and how Edge’s fictional brother, Christian, was going to return. The match was set up for the Royal Rumble. Edge, who had lost the title to Jeff Hardy in a Triple Threat match featuring Triple H, was to get his re-match against Jeff Hardy.

By this point, Edge had established his character as an opportunist that would do anything to win and the Royal Rumble would be no different. His partnership with Vickie Guerrero has produced some awesome television and he used this relationship to get whatever he wanted.

Leading up to the Royal Rumble it was quite easy to predict Edge winning the title back. Speculation about Christian returning and helping his on-screen brother helped build anticipation for this match. In my opinion, the match was spoilt slightly by Matt Hardy, not Christian, helping Edge to win the match but you can’t deny that Edge played his part of the storyline brilliantly. You name a facial expression and Edge can do it. His ‘shocked’ face added realism even though the angle was pretty unbelievable in itself.

Having now won his second title as many months, Edge looked like he would, yet again, be on the road to Wrestlemania as the reigning and defending champion. However, there was a shock in store and a very clever, unpredictable one at that. Edge had now reached such a high level of brilliance that a PPV, No Way Out, would be booked around him. There is no denying that Edge stole the show on the second PPV of the year, and the last before Wrestlemania. In the weeks building up to No Way Out tension began to build between Edge and Vickie Guerrero. She booked him in a title defence at No Way Out competing with 5 other wrestler’s in an Elimination Chamber match. Since his return at Survivor Series, he had won the title, lost it and won it again. Was he going to lose it again? Damn right. He did it in style getting pinned by Jeff Hardy before the other 4 wrestlers had a chance to enter the match.

Did he look weak? No

Why? Because he is THAT good!

At then, in an unexpected twist, Edge attacked Kofi Kingston while he was making his entrance for the second Elimination Chamber. He stole his way into another title opportunity after Vickie Guerrero was left in charge (Stephanie went with Shane in the ambulance after his match with Randy Orton). Even though he had, by this time, been using Vickie Guerrero to gain unjustified title opportunities for over a year, it was still a shock to viewers.

Why? Because he is THAT good!

Has anyone ever lost one World Title and the won another World Title on the same show. No. So, this is another record that Edge holds. Holding this record doesn’t really mean much but the fact that he can pull it off, and that WWE have this much faith in him, does.

Some people rolled their eyes when they realised that Edge would be facing John Cena for the umpteenth time. Others were happy because of their natural chemistry with each other. So, in a triple threat match including The Big Show (which was in my opinion just a way to get him on the card), Edge defended his title his newly won title against the man he beat for it, John Cena.

Sure, maybe this match didn’t appeal to the internet wrestling community but it’s very interesting for the casual fan. It was their most loved good-guy vs. their most hated cheating bad guy vs. the biggest giant ever!!! Edge didn’t steal the show from Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker but he did a good job of carrying two wrestlers to a half-decent triple threat match.

The build up to Backlash promised us, after years of feuding, the rubber match between Edge and John Cena. The promos building up to it were quite good but the match itself stole the show. Just like the Royal Rumble, Edge had won the match via someone else attacking their opponent. This meant that his only clean PPV win so far was at No Way Out and even that was controversial. The Big Show came out and electrocuted John Cena. But, yet again, it was Edge that made it believable with the same ‘shocked face’ that he did at the Royal Rumble. I’m going to go out on a limb and say, despite Jericho vs. Steamboat being a personal mark-out session for me, Edge had the performance of the night.

Now it was time to face Jeff Hardy again. Having had his title stolen in dubious circumstances, and also having now eliminated the threat of his own brother (so it seemed) Jeff Hardy wanted his title back. The promos building up to it were excellent mentioning each of their history and comparing how eerily similar, yet very different, they were. It’s weird to think that 10 years ago Edge vs. Jeff Hardy was given away on Raw and Smackdown and nowadays it is saved for the main event of PPV’s. Neither transformation has been quick, like JBL for instance, but they were still unpredictable. I’ll be honest, I never saw either of them as future Main Event talent but I’m glad I’ve been proved wrong.

To my satisfaction, Edge retained his title in a very hard fought match with only minimal interference from Matt Hardy. The match itself was a twenty minute thriller and told a great story of Jeff always failing at the last hurdle. It definitely out shined the other title match that ended with a disqualification and the poor match between John Cena and The Big Show. In fact, it just goes to show how talented Edge is when you compared the triple threat match at Wrestlemania to the Cena vs. Big Show match at Judgment Day.

This feud built steam on the way to Extreme Rules where Jeff faced Edge again but in a Ladder Match. The Ladder stipulation was appropriate for this match as it was the Ladder and TLC matches that first made them shine. Then shone 10 years ago, and they shone again here. Guess what? They stole the show.

So, out of 7 PPV’s so far this year, Edge has competed the best match of the night a total of 4 times. How can I make a plea for anyone else to be superstar of the year? Triple H and Randy Orton were disappointing in the main event of Wrestlemania. Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker are the only other people that may deserve it but they’ve both been off screen for three months. Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker have, with no doubt in my mind, had the best match of 2009 so far but it is Edge’s consistency in the Main Events that makes him standout.

And now Edge is a tag team champion. Why is this? My guess is that it is so he can add to the quality of the Night of Champions card coming later this month. After all, every match has to be a title match.

Have a look at this (with the assumption that being the ‘Main Event’ means you are wrestling last):

By comparing these two lists you can conclude, as can I, that when Edge is the Main Event he steals the show. He is, and at the end of the year will be awarded the title of, The Superstar of the Year 2009!